Clearly we Longhorns find reasons to be thankful to go to THE University of Texas every day, but we found 13 particular reasons it was great to be on the 40 acres in 2013:
13. We Debuted The New Liberal Arts Crib
In January, we said hello to the new Liberal Arts building. It does has more than one elevator so it could have 50 Cent’s crazy crib beat, but no word on if nine bedrooms, seven kitchens, a theater, and a strip club have been built. We’ll keep you updated.
12. We Saw Future Idinas Strut Their Stuff
Every August Wilson, every Diana Paulus, and every Idina Menzel were once just aspiring theater artists, and Cohen’s New Work Festival presented by the University Co-Op and the Department of Theater & Dance proved that the current aspiring theater artists have a really bright future. The festival was a week-long showcase of new work created by UT’s theater students, and it was pretty darn awesome.
11. We Became the Harlem Shake Parody Trendsetters
When the first Harlem Shake video went viral in early February, UT parodied it within the week. Then two days after that, we held a huge event on the South Mall, gaining over 10 million views. Then every other university in the country thought they would try and join the ranks. We clearly know how to smell a trend.
10. We Got One Step Closer to Being Real Wizards
UT sneakily slid this one in, as we had already left for Christmas break, but let’s just say we could be the first ones to actually use an invisibility cloak. But where to go first? And what’s next, a Maurader Map of campus?
9. We Found the Golden Snitch
Continuing on the Hogwarts Express, our Texas Quidditch team won the Quidditch World Cup in April. They slayed teams from across the nation, as well as some from Canada, Mexico, and France. 150 points to UT!
8. We Celebrated Our 130th Birthday
It’s our party and our tower will glow burnt orange if it wants to.
7. We Heard Bryan Cranston Say “I am the Danger”
Breaking Bad fans rejoiced as Bryan Cranston uttered “I am the danger” while visiting the Department of Theater and Dance. I personally was hoping for a Frankie Muniz guest appearance, but I guess you can’t have everything.
6. We Confirmed That Gold Goes Good With Burnt Orange
Winning the Red River Rivalry was beautiful day for every Longhorn. We earned that Golden Hat and OU drowned their sorrows in all of the deep fried food available at the Texas State Fair or headed back to their mothership, not sure which.
5. We Earned Back the Money We Spent at Football Games (sort of)
Longhorn football is worth $139 million, making us the most valuable team of 2013 in Forbes’ eyes. I guess this makes those $5 water bottles worth it?
4. We Named Our College of Communication
The Moody Foundation gave a $50 million endowment (the largest gift Moody has ever given out) to our College of Communication, which will now bear Moody in the name, which is probably like the equivalent of getting knighted as a Sir in England. The new Moody College also sends its best wishes to Rihanna in learning her name.
3. We Embodied “What Starts Here, Changes the World” (Well, 17 of us did)
Sure, we’ve got some impressively smart students, and heck, you probably are friends with a few of these faces on facebook. But the really cool thing about this list is that you could have easily bumped into them on a packed Forty Acres bus, beat them at Plucker’s WINGO, or used the same spray sanitizer as them after eliptical-sizing next to them at Gregory. Check out their accomplishments.
2. We Bowed When Beyonce Bled Burnt Orange
Queen Bey rocked a Longhorn jersey. It really doesn’t get much better than that. #bowdown.
1. We Were Blessed by the Fried Chicken Gods
We all know who the real winner was this year: Raising Cane’s. The corner of the MLK and San Antonio never looked so good.